Red Cedar spindle on two mullein stick fireboard bow drill fire.

[Woods Walker]

For this practice I tied two mullein sticks together then used a Red cedar spindle to get a coal.



There was a gap between sticks. I hoped this would allow the dust and ember to fall under the set then air would feed the coal however this didn't really workout as expected.



Actually I always seemed to have more than one coal. The first was trapped in the gap between sticks. Then it moved over to both the dust and leaf however remained in the two stick fireboard. Once the leaf went out and coal was totally removed from the fireboard a mullein top somehow caught the embers falling from the two stick board.





The dust was very flammable. The tinder bundle was jute combined with mullein pith for a coal extender. It took only 18 seconds to get a coal. That's 18 seconds total without the need for a burn in. Maybe a few minutes to cut the mullein, shaving a little of the outside with my knife. Couldn't have been more than another minute or so to tie the two sticks together. A very fast friction fire method requiring little effort. Very pleased with this combo. Will have to experiment with more two stick friction fires.



Here is a video of the Red cedar spindle two mullein stick fireboad. This was done at the tail end of dusk. It was interesting to see all the various embers floating around in the dark. This set really really really wanted to work!

[video=youtube;YKfs8WJNqz8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKfs8WJNqz8[/video]

Thanks Stone over on Bushcraft USA for introducing me to the two stick Mullein fireboard idea.

 

[greenwoods]

Thanks for taking the time to put this Mullein thread together. I have always enjoyed your informative and fun posts. I am now on a Mullein Quest!
Last year I went on a Chicory kick and have a bunch of fine dried root waiting to be ground and made into a beverage alone and mixed with coffee.

We have a lot of Mullein growing on the beachy trails near the coast near Lake Erie, I just need to pay closer attention.

:thumbup:
Mark

 

[Woods Walker]

Glad yea liked it greenwoods. Mullein likes gravel and other poor soil conditions in areas with direct sunlight. Or at least those are the places I find it.

 

[Codger_64]

18 seconds? I protest! If you keep going at this rate, you will have soon discovered spontanious combustion!

Maybe it is time to throw you a curveball. Try the two-stick mullin hearth... fireplow!

 

[Barbarossa]

That was fast. I will have to try this one I grabbed some mullein the other week and been waiting to try it.

 

[Woods Walker]

18 seconds? I protest! If you keep going at this rate, you will have soon discovered spontanious combustion!

Maybe it is time to throw you a curveball. Try the two-stick mullin hearth... fireplow!

Fireplow is on my to do list.

That was fast. I will have to try this one I grabbed some mullein the other week and been waiting to try it.

Give it a GO! I got another coal from the set in under 10 seconds. Not a record but good given no burn-in required.

 

[Woods Walker]

With the bugs in full force I decided to crack out the two stick mullein fireboard from the previous practice and try a White pine spindle made from wood found on the ground. Clearly for friction fire wood that isn't in direct contact with the ground is preferable. Just tossing a little monkey wrench in the works.



After about maybe 20 seconds got two coals, one on each side of the spindle. That never happened to me before. Believe it or not this same fireboard produced a 6-second coal beating it's old record. That's 6-seconds total including burn-in as there is no need for a burn in. If not for a horse fly that took a bite out of my neck when timing it I wouldn't have stopped then discovered how fast that ember appeared. The two embers below took longer but hardly complaining. Seems mullein = fire. Go Figure?



Tinder bundle of jute and mullein shavings.



Done!